Democracy as Good in Itself: Three Kinds of Non-Instrumental Justification

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This chapter addresses the problem of the justification of democracy. It begins with an investigation of political-legal instrumentalism in general and democratic instrumentalism in particular. This is followed by three sections, each of which presents and discusses the three kinds of democratic non-instrumentalism. The argument here proceeds progressively, in the sense that objections to the first kind of justification (Aristotelian non-instrumentalism) lead to the second kind (justice-first non-instrumentalism), and similarly with the transition from the second to the third kind of non-instrumentalism (Kantian non-instrumentalism). The chapter includes an extra section on Kantian non-instrumentalism, since this justification of democracy is the main contribution of the chapter. It argues that the Kantian justification is a justification of a specific form of democracy, namely, constitutional democracy.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationConstitutionalism Justified : Rainer Forst in Discourse
EditorsEster Herlin-Karnell, Matthias Klatt
Number of pages29
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date2020
Pages235-263
Chapter11
ISBN (Print)9780190889050
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

ID: 232153970